This article appeared in the magazine supplement of the Dayton Daily News, Sunday, September 16, 1932
The Gospel in Horseback Days
By Howard Burba
To have united in marriage more than five thousand couples is in itself a distinction to be claimed by few preachers. But when you add to that the preparation and delivery of more than 8000 sermons, the baptism of 2400 converts and the administration of holy communion to more than 22,000 others, it is a record that no divine has equaled in this day and age.
But good old Dr. David Winters, pioneer in the field of religious activity in the Miami Valley had all that to his credit when he laid down life’s burdens almost 50 years ago, after having preached continuously in various churches of this community for a period of 61 years.
We’ve honored a good many heroes in our time. We’ve hung out the flag for a lot of chaps who, having been inadvertently thrown into the cauldron of war, helped themselves to considerable glory by finding a way out. We’ve memorialized those who gave us the labor-saving devices that took the sting out of back-breaking labor and the pay envelope out of the hands of thousands who are now hunting jobs. But for some unaccountable reasons we’ve never found time to honor this faithful, sincere, devout old messenger of peace on earth, this pioneer preacher who did as much or more than any living man to make Christian citizenship in this part of the world what it is today.
Let’s take a moment this Sunday morning to look back through the pages of religious history in the Miami Valley, and seek out the highlights of this old pioneer whose work and deeds glorified his long years on earth; whose every waking hour was devoted to the betterment of the people among whom he had as a youth cast his lot and among whom as a man he had won esteem and the highest measure of respect.
Rev. David Winters died on the 9th day of May, 1885. He was the son of Rev. Thomas Winters, and was born at Martinsburg, W Va., on December 24, 1801. Some eight years later in 1809, his parents took up the long and strenuous pilgrimage to the west, crossing the Cumberland Mountains over the still hazardous trail blazed by Daniel Boone and his followers through Cumberland Gap. They had heard of the fertile lands to be found in the valleys to the northwest; word had been carried to them of the steady march of home seekers toward those valleys. The elder Winters felt the call for religious labor in a field which, at the turn of the century, was ripe for the message of ripe living.
Reaching Mad River, the little family decided to bring their long journey to an end. They set about the erection of a log house, and the clearing of a patch of ground for the culture of the scant but treasured supply of vegetable seed which they had brought with them. A few years later, when Montgomery Co. was created and laid out in smaller political subdivisions, the Winter’s home was found to be located in Mad River Tp.
Here they lived until the year 1815, when the father was called to Germantown to preach. He was tendered the pastorate of the Germantown Reformed Church at that place, one of the first congregations of this denomination to be established in this part of the world.
It was at Germantown that young David received his education and where he decided to follow in the footsteps of his father as to the choice of his lifework. He studied for the ministry under his father, and in 1824, under a call from members of the Reformed faith residing in Dayton he entered the ministry and came here to make his home. He traveled to New Philadelphia, where he was formally ordained. Immediately upon arrival here he set about the organization of a new church, meeting with enthusiastic encouragement from the start. The result of his first efforts as a religious leader was the formation of the German Reformed church, which soon became one of the leading religious institutions of the city of Dayton.
German officers were arriving from the east. Sturdy and thrifty by nature, they were quick to establish themselves in comfortable homes and to wring from the soil the rich reward that awaited their labor. But they stood sorely in need of a church home, and the organization of the First Reformed congregation satisfied that need. For several years they worshipped in a little brick courthouse at Third and Main. As they increased in numbers they sought larger quarters, renting the Christian church then standing on Main near Fourth St.
On April 18, 1837, the congregation secured a building log on Ludlow St. and erected a house of worship which, for a time, was one of the most attractive examples of architecture in these parts. That building was torn down but a few years ago to make room for a more modern structure, the one now housing the ---
Building and Loan association.
The congregation had paid $700 for the site. Less than a half-dozen years ago it resold for approximately $100,000 – a fair example of the increased value of downtown real estate in Dayton.
Peter Baer, George W. Simonds, and Valentine Winters, an uncle, served as the first building committee. In August, 1837, the cornerstone was laid, and the fine brick structure hurried to completion. It was used for church purposes from the moment of its completion, though not formally dedicated until the meeting of synod, held here in June, 1840. The dedicatory sermons were preached by Rev. George Weiss in German and Rev. Henry Willard in English.
During these early years the Rev. Thomas Winters, father of the subject of this sketch, was most active in extending the work to which he had dedicated his life. While still in charge of the Germantown congregation he came up the Germantown Pike to a point four miles south of Dayton, where he organized a congregation and built Zion Reformed Church. Many of the charter members of this congregation had been identified with the original Germantown flock.
Down along the Lebanon Pike, and extending back from it for several miles were to be found a considerable number of German colonists. They were without adequate means of transportation and unable to attend services at either the Dayton church or Zion church on the Germantown Pike. They appealed to Rev. David Winters for a solution of their problem, and he found it in the organization of David’s Church, still maintained as one of the most substantial and historically proud congregations in the Miami Valley. Procuring a good saddle horse, “Father” Winters as he had become known to most of the pioneers, made regular visits to the new congregation, ministering to them in their illness, marrying their sons and daughters, baptizing their infants and officiating at the last earthly rites.
He saw the need for still another house of worship over in the Beavertown neighborhood, so he became active in the organization of a congregation there. As a result of this activity there came for Mount Zion Church, about a mile east of Beavertown, on the Indian Ripple Road. This congregation too, he ministered to regularly. A few years later he organized still another church, composed of German settlers residing on farmlands adjacent to the present Xenia Pike. Under his direction and counsel, the congregation erected a church along the pike about five miles south of Dayton. It was christened Hawker Church.
With four congregations under his pastoral wing, Rev. Winters quickly became one of the busiest ministers of the gospel to be found anywhere in the Northwest Territory. His faithful saddle horse stood him in good stead, for three of the four Sundays in each month found him traveling to his outlying parishes over roads that were even then little more than grass-growth trails. Then, too, services where held at the homes of the members of the various congregations before their houses of worship were erected, and this often necessitated the covering of extra miles.
He had an ardent supporter in the old David Church congregation of whom he was very fond, often remaining over Sunday night at his home and enjoying there the companionship of other members who would gather in for the comforting words they were sure of hearing from this good man’s lips. His staunch friend was Christian Creager. Many of his descendants are still residing in the David Church neighborhood. Creager donated the land on which David Church stands, and for the cemetery nearby; he went into his own forest lands and personally selected the logs for the church; worked with the men of the congregation in felling the trees, and dressing the logs and raising the structure in which he worshipped up to the time of his death at a venerable age.
For many years Rev. Winters was pastor of the four churches. Age brought infirmities and since he could no longer negotiate the 50 or 60 mile ride each Sunday to cover his territory, he was forced in later years to give up preaching at David’s and Hawker churches. But he continued the active and beloved leader of both Zion and Mt. Zion up to the Sunday before his death. In 1826, he was elected president of the Montgomery County Bible Society, continuing in that office for five years. His zeal was not confined to the advancement of his own denomination alone. He joined with the ministers of every faith then represented in the Miami Valley in promoting religious fellowship and in strengthening the religious life of the entire community in which he served.
That you may more fully appreciate the splendid service rendered by this pioneer messenger of The Word, it might be well to present a few statistics covering his activities.
During the 61 years he was engaged in the ministry Rev. Winters prepared and preached more than 8000 sermons. He officiated at 1300 funerals. He baptized 3000 persons in the faith he represented, and added to his own church communion, by rite of confirmation, a total of 2400 persons. The lowest number during any one year was 20, the highest 155.
In the discharge of his duty as a minister of the gospel he administered the Lord’s Supper to 22,150 communicants. In connection with his church labors he united in marriage 5090 couples, the last ceremony of this nature being performed less than one month before his death. Today, the children and grand-children of these couples are scattered to the four corners of the earth, but many family Bibles in this immediate neighborhood offer mute evidence of the fact that the fathers and mothers of those who owned these treasured old volumes plighted their troth at the feet of this lovable old pastor.
In his pastoral career it was a common thing for him to travel on horseback from 2000 to 3000 miles a year, visiting the sick and needy, spreading the light of the gospel through the pioneer settlements, preaching in the cabins and barns or in the open air, with the log heap for a pulpit, and by the light of burning brush fires at night; giving encouragement to the little band of Christians in scattered neighborhoods, often administering the Lord’s Supper to his people with nothing but the broad canopy of heaven above them.
For many years, Rev. Winters was actively identified with Heidelberg College, maintained b the denomination at Tiffin, Ohio. One of the many honors extended him during his long and active career came through this institution when it conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of Divinity.
The funeral of Rev. David Winters was held in the church he had so long served, on Ludlow St., Wednesday afternoon, May 13, 1885. Newspapers of that date tell us that it was the largest and most impressive funeral service ever held in the city of Dayton. While the audience room and vestibule of the church were packed with people, not one-third of those present could get into the building. The sidewalks from Second to Third Sts. were crowded, and the streets for blocks around were choked with vehicles. Every congregation to which he had ministered sent its members by the scores. There were a few dry eyes in Dayton that day.
The funeral service was conducted by Revs. Hale and Montgomery of Dayton, and Rev. Dr. Reitler, pastor of the Miamisburg church. These ministers, all of whom are tenderly remembered by scores of Daytonians, officiated as honorary pall bearers: Rev. W. Fenneman, Rev. R.M. Goaks and Reverends Herr and Hughes, of Dayton; Rev. Dr. Herrmann, of Miamisburg; Rev. Dr. Willard, of Tiffin; Rev. S.B. Yockey, of Xenia; and Rev. J.B. Hearshey, of Philadelphia.
“It will take more than half a century,” declared one local newspaper editor in commenting on the passing of Rev. Winters, “to remove him from the present, and it will be then a promotion to an exalted place in the religious history of Montgomery Co. Rest well then, beloved patriarch of the church, while numberless friends draw near to say farewell. The aged and the young are filled with reverential awe as they look upon thine ashes. Your work, well done, secures eternal rest.”
To see this article with the photographs, please see the Montgomery County Genealogical Society Website and go to “Newspapers”
